The crowd is settled in at New Brunswick’s State Theatre New Jersey this Saturday, November 2, 2019 evening for a Rock and Roll Spectacular starring Chubby Checker, The Duprees, Jay Seigel’s Tokens, and The Capris.
As we wait for the concert to begin, we chat with several music fans in the audience including Joseph from Staten Island who reveals, “I knew Chubby Checker 40 years ago when I used to work in a bar and his band would play there. I can remember holding the limbo stick for Chubby when he sang ‘Limbo Rock,’ and I can tell you he looks and sounds the same today as he did back then.”
Whereas Bob from Sayreville remarks, “I love the music of The Duprees,” Terry from Sayreville explains, “Tommy Petillo of The Duprees went to Nutley High School, so I know him,” before adding, “They always sing all the songs I love.”
Maryann from Ewing concurs noting, “This kind of music is fun to sing along to. I especially love Jay Siegel and The Tokens’ ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight.’”
Exclaims Sylvia from Staten Island, “I’m celebrating my birthday tonight, so I feel very young! This kind of music always makes me happy — it’s nice; it’s fun — and the State Theatre is a lovely venue in which to enjoy it.”
Her friend, Pamela from Cherry Hill, agrees, adding, “I’m a patron of the arts and the State Theatre is a great place to see shows — plus, it’s in New Brunswick, which is a city that has so much to offer.”
The lights dim and concert producer Harry G. takes the stage to introduce Anthony Duke Claus, explaining, “We love to find new young talent from this great state of New Jersey.”
Claus opens his set with his interpretation of Frankie Layne’s “I Believe.”
With his mature sound and stylized vibrato, Claus wows the crowd, and gets them clapping on The Platters’ “The Great Pretender.” Claus’ personality shines on his rendition of The Drifters’ “Up on the Roof,” electing cheers for his engaging performance.
Calling him “The Duke of Doo Wop,” radio DJ Alan David Stein reintroduces Harry G., who takes the stage wearing a top hat and cape and carrying a cane.
Asking “Was there a moon out tonight?” and answering, “There was in Queens!” Harry G. introduces the crowd to “Queens, NY’s own The Capris.”
The Capris enter in their sequined jackets as audience members clap to the rhythm of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”
After asking, “How you doing tonight?” The Capris perform “Trickle Trickle” in three-part harmony before segueing into a romantic rendition of Conway Twitty’s “It’s Only Make Believe.”
The audience sways to The Capris’ interpretation of Louis Prima’s “Just a Gigolo,” with everyone singing along on the well-known “I ain’t got nobody” refrain.
A highlight of The Capris’ set is their performance of Eddie Holman’s “Hey There Lonely Girl,” featuring singer Michael D’Amore.
Crooning in his effortless falsetto — legato and full of feeling — D’Amore inspires cheers for his compelling performance.
Following “Morse Code of Love” — a ’60s hit for The Capris which also became a hit in the 1980s for Manhattan Transfer as “Baby Come Back To Me” — The Capris recognize founding member Frank Reina who has been a member of the group for 61 years.
The musicians conclude their set with their 1961 Top 5 hit, “There’s a Moon Out Tonight.” Singing “There’s a (Moon out tonight), whoa-oh-oh ooh/Let’s go strollin’,” audience members stand and applaud for The Capris.
Harry G. and Alan David Stein retake the stage to introduce tonight’s next act — Jay Siegel’s Tokens.
Siegel and The Tokens — Kurt “Frenchy” Yahjian and Bill Reid — open their set with the group’s 1961 #1 hit “Tonight I Fell In Love.”
Sounding as fresh as ever, audience members clap their hands as the singers effortlessly switch up to their falsetto voices and back to their full chest voices, to the amazement of the crowd.
Siegel takes the mic and tells a story about attending Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, NY where he formed his group, The Tokens — a combo which, he explains, in its early years “included Neil Sedaka.”
Here, Siegel and the guys launch into “the ‘B’ Side of the ‘Tonight I Fell in Love’ 45 rpm record,” “I’ll Always Love You,” for the smiling crowd. As the background harmony lines move, Siegel sings his compelling lead.
Siegel and The Tokens launch into their 1967 hit, “Portrait of My Love,” a performance which features Siegel’s outstanding falsetto floating above the voices of his talented colleagues.
They follow that with an upbeat rendition of The Temptations’ “My Girl” featuring Kurt “Frenchy” Yahjian on lead vocals.
Afterwards, the trio sings two songs which Siegel produced for other artists — The Happenings’ “See You in September” and The Chiffons’ “One Fine Day.”
After dedicating the group’s next song, “Please Write,” to veterans and their families, Jay and The Tokens perform their 1961 #1 hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” — in the original key — where Jay Siegel proves that, as a singer, he’s still got it.
The number ends with the audience standing and cheering for Jay Seigel, his amazing voice, and his trio.
Harry G. takes the stage to announce that Jay Seigel just turned 80 on Oct. 20. As Seigel is presented with a birthday cake, the entire crowd sings “Happy Birthday” to him.
Then, Harry G. And Alan David Stein introduce tonight’s next group — The Duprees.
Announces singer Tony Testa, “We’re from Jersey City. We feel like we’re playing in our backyard. We have such great fans here!”
Opening their portion of the show with “Have You Heard,” the current members of this well-known quartet — Tony Testa, Phil Granito, Jimmy Spinelli, and Tommy Petillo — demonstrate their ability to perform beautiful four-part harmonies together.
Following a song about unrequited love, “Why Don’t You Believe Me,” The Duprees perform their interpretation of Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife.”
Moving onto another Bobby Darin classic, The Duprees perform a swingin’ arrangement of “The Sand and the Sea” — a smooth ballad which features lush background harmonies — as patterned lights swirl on the stage floor.
After performing their rendition of Ed Townshend’s “For Your Love,” the guys announce, “This is a love song — but not romantic love. It is love of country and family. We live in the greatest country in the world.”
The crowd stands as Tommy Petillo and The Duprees sing a stirring rendition of Pat Boone’s “The Exodus Song.”
They follow up with Duprees’ member Phil Granito who is featured on a wild medley of Jackie Wilson songs including “That’s Why (I Love You So)” and “Lonely Teardrops” — an electrifying performance which the audience finds utterly enjoyable.
Up next is “Musical Time Machine,” a vocal medley featuring hits from four decades including “Lazy River” from the ‘30s, “Dream (When You’re Feeling Blue)” from the ‘40s, “Sh-Boom” from the ‘50s, and, representing the ‘60s, the Duprees’ own hit “Tara’s Theme” — a vocal adapation of the theme song from Gone with the Wind — along with a Bobby Darin song done “Dupree-style,” “Beyond the Sea.”
The Duprees conclude their portion of this tonight’s Rock and Roll Spectacular with their timeless hit which opens with the famous line, “See the pyramids along the Nile.” Performing their classic number, “You Belong to Me,” The Duprees’ compelling performance lifts the entire audience to its feet.
Following a short intermission, Harry G. and Alan David Stein introduce Chubby Checker, announcing, “Now let’s do some twisting!”
Opening with 1961’s “Good, Good Lovin’,” Checker belts out, “I got a lotta good lovin’/Good lovin’/Make me feel so bad,” all the while making his audience feel so good!
Accompanied by his rockin’ young band, The Wildcats, Checker looks and sounds as great as ever. On this number which features wailing sax and booming bass, audience members feel the rhythm as they tap their toes, clap along, and dance at their seats.
The music edgy and rocking, the crowd sings along on “Twist It Up,” enjoying every “go go go,” “ho ho ho,” and “hey hey hey.” They continue singing as Checker sings and swings on Bobby Day’s “Little Bitty Pretty One.”
Moving onto a medley of Fats Domino tunes including “I’m Walkin’,” Checker — ever the consummate performer — brings back memories to this audience of music fans who nod their heads in time and sing along.
The house lights up, Checker invites the audience to clap along to a rockin’ rendition of Domino’s “Blueberry Hill.” Shaking his hips, Chubby struts right down into the audience to dance with his fans. Audience members stand and watch him from the balcony as music lovers in the crowd party and dance along with him.
Taking a moment to chat with the crowd, Checker asks, “How you doing out there?” Revealing, “I’m always up and down the Turnpike — I’m so glad to be here again,” Checker introduces his band before changing the pace and slowing things down with an original new number entitled “Changes.”
As Checker sings, “I’ve been running wild through my life/I never knew which way the wind was blowing,” the band sizzles on this power ballad featuring keyboard arpeggios, a jazzy and twangy guitar solo, and solid drumming.
Checker announces his next number, “Hooka Tooka,” saying, “Someone told me to record this song, and I said, ‘That’s a stupid song,’ but I recorded it,” adding, “I didn’t know they were going to play it on the radio!”
Singing “Does your momma chaw tobacca/If ya momma chaw tobacca, say/Hooka Tooka my soda cracker,” Checker gets the audience’s attention before asking the crowd to join him in singing, “Hey lardy lardy lardy/Hey lardy lardy lo” on another Checker hit from 1963, “Loddy Lo.”
After announcing, “For all of you who are able, it’s party time — get up!” Checker performs his 1961 hit, “Pony Time.” Singing “So get with it/Don’t quit it/Get up (boogety, boogety, boogety, boogety shoo),” Checker dances to the rolling drums, turning to the left before turning to the right.
The State Theatre starts to shake on Chubby’s rendition of Jerry Lee Louis’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On” as the audience enjoys echo singing on the “Shake it baby, shake it” refrain.
Following his rendition of Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue,” Checker performs his own 1962 hit, “Limbo Rock,” during which he joyfully incorporates segments of “The Mickey Mouse Club Theme” song.
Another Checker classic is up next — his 1960 smash, “The Hucklebuck” — where he sings “Do the hucklebuck (yeah)/Do the hucklebuck (yeah)/If you don’t know how to do it/Man you’re out of luck” as the band rocks out.
In a show filled with memorable moments, however, perhaps the most memorable is Checker’s live rendition of his 1960 #1 hit which resurfaced to become #1 again in 1962 — “The Twist.”
Sounding just like he did on the record, Checker has audience members singing and dancing along to this classic party song.
The crowd cheers, and without missing a beat, Checker moves on to his 1961 Top Ten hit, “Let’s Twist Again,” where the band rocks on to a dynamic conclusion and the crowd responds with a heartfelt standing ovation!
As audience members make their way out of the auditorium, we chat with several in the crowd who share their thoughts on the various artists who performed during tonight’s Rock and Roll Spectacular.
Comments Ken from Staten Island, “I liked The Capris — they were excellent — and Jay Siegel at 80 years old is just fantastic.” Recalling “I saw the original Duprees in 1967 in Wildwood,” Ken adds, “They sound just the same — just excellent,” before concluding, “I still love this kind of music.”
Donnajay from Ewing agrees, “There’s nothing like oldies music! It makes you want to get up and move — you can’t sit still,” adding, “I love it, but my husband loves it even more — especially Chubby Checker! Keep this music alive and I’ll keep coming back!”
Vince from Manalapan remarks, “I haven’t seen these groups in years, and they all sounded terrific,” noting, “Jay Siegel still sounds amazing, and The Duprees have such great songs — their harmonies are top notch.”
Reveals Alex from Westfield, “I’m currently taking a college course on the History of Rock. I was looking for a local concert that I could see this weekend, and I really learned a lot tonight seeing all of these classic artists.”
Explains Alex’s mom, Theresa, “Alex needed to see a concert, and we really hit the jackpot with this one! It turned out to be a very cool way for us to spend a Saturday night together.”
Adding, “All of these artists are so iconic,” Theresa acknowledges, “I really enjoyed this show,” before concluding, “We really do have an obligation to teach our children about our kind of music — rock and roll!”
Lastly, we chat with Margaret from South Brunswick who comments on tonight’s Rock and Roll Spectacular stating, “The melodies, the harmonies, the attitudes, the emotion — this is what music should be.”
Explaining, “So much of today’s music is missing that human element,” Margaret asserts, “These songs make you feel that there’s love in the world. They can make you laugh and cry. They can make you happy. They can make you want to get up and dance. They can make you think. They can make you feel good.”
Pointing out, “This is where we get the human musical connection — at live music concerts,” Margaret acknowledges, “These songs bring people together. They create a sense of community where there’s a natural connection between artists and an audience.”
Exclaiming, “We were all dancing in the aisles — when listening to this kind of music, even people at my age show they still have a lot of spunk left in them!” Margaret concludes by declaring, “Music like this touches the soul!”
To learn more about Chubby Checker, please go to chubbychecker.com. To find out more about The Duprees, please click on duprees.com. For further information on Jay Siegel’s Tokens, check out jaysiegelstokens.com. To find out more about The Capris, please click on thecapris.net.
For information on upcoming concerts at State Theatre New Jersey — including Golden Oldies Spectacular starring Jay and The Americans, BJ Thomas, Lou Christie, Dennis Tufano and the 1910 Fruitgum Company on March 21, 2020 — please click on stnj.org.
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